Johanna Schmitt ’74

Johanna Schmitt ’74 was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences last fall, in recognition of her cutting-edge research and scholarship. A Brown University professor of biology and environmental studies, Schmitt is also director of the Environmental Change Initiative and the Stephen T. Olney Professor of Natural History. According to Dean of Faculty Rajiv Vohra, “[Johanna’s] work, which bridges physiology, genetics, and evolutionary ecology, is truly unique, extremely ambitious, and worthy of national recognition.” Schmitt, who joined the Brown faculty in 1982, studies how plants change over time in response to their environment. She and her research group use the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana—a member of the mustard family—to study how genetic variation in sensitivity to environmental cues such as day length and temperature affects reproductive success in different regions and climates. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and member of the National Academy of Science, Schmitt received a Humboldt Research Award in 2007. She is also president of the Society for the Study of Evolution and past president of the American Society of Naturalists.